The European Commission has slapped Google with a third fine for breaching competition rules—this time for blocking rival online search advertisers from getting a foothold in the market.

The €1.49 billion (U.S. $1.69 billion) fine is the third in three successive years for the internet giant and represents 1.29 percent of the company’s total revenues for last year.

Neil Hodge is a freelance business journalist and photographer based in Nottingham, United Kingdom. He writes on insurance and risk management, corporate governance, internal audit, compliance, and legal...